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Stila ‘A Whole Lot Of Love’ Gift Set

I was able to get my hands on one of the bigger sets from Stila’s 2015 holiday collection, and the reason I chose this one was because I felt it gave me the most value product-wise, and the packaging was super adorable!

Gold and royal purple are the colours of choice for this enchanting love letter styled packaging. The palette is opened by the faux wax seal, which is held shut magnetically. When you pull the seal up, the packaging folds out to reveal a generous
-sized mirror, and then the blushes, eyeshadows, and mini mascara.

To the left, there are four blushes in the shades ‘Light Pink’, ‘Dusty Rose’ Peach Shimmer’ and ‘Berry Shimmer’. They’ve set them out so they go from light to dark and matte (top two) to shimmer (bottom two). I feel all these shades compliment most skin tones, and you can always mix them together to come up with a different look. They’re all very silky, and you don’t need much for rosy cheeks – apply less, and build up as needed.

Moving on to the mascara, this is a ‘deluxe’ (mini) size of Stila’s Huge Extreme Lash Mascara. I’ve decided not to open this up until I’ve used up three other mascaras I have at the moment, but I can see this would be great for travel. Loving the gold packaging too!

Last but not least (actually my favourite part) is the 20 eyeshadows! These little guys are the reason I was so drawn to the palette. There’s a really good mix of shimmers, glitters and mattes, varying from neutral to wow-factor material (I’m looking at you Lapis).

So far, I’ve only used a handful of colours from the top two rows, and so far, I’m really impressed. They glide on beautifully and I haven’t experienced much fall-out from my application (although I’ve heard Rose Pewter can be a little messier to work with, because, so much glittery-goodness). If you are worried about fall-out with some of the more intensely shimmery shades, I suggest applying eye makeup first.

The only issue I’ve noticed (as others have pointed this out), is the way the palette is designed. Once shut, and it’s been placed down (so the faux wax seal is facing up), the blushes and eyeshadows are upside down, which causes a tiny bit of product to drop onto the mirror…thanks gravity. This isn’t a deal breaker for me, as it’s only the tiniest amount of product, and I can just as easily flip the palette so there’s no chance of fall-out (although this defeats the purpose of seeing the gorgeous old-world love letter front…so I’m going to have to compromise one way or the other!).

All up I really love this palette and the variety of colours it contains, and I can’t wait to get a little braver and try out some eye looks with the bolder colours. It’s the perfect palette for day and night time looks, from very minimal/neutral looks, all the way through to striking shades.

Other sets from Stila’s 2015 holiday collection were: Stila Trust in Love palette (12 shadows, lip glaze and mascara); Sending My Love (box containing an eyeshadow palette, blush palette, full-sized eyeliner and small lip glaze); Stila Eternal Love Liquid Lipstick Set (three small lippies); Stila Eternally Yours Liquid Lipstick Set (six small matte lippies); and Stila Sealed with a Kiss Lip Glze Set (six lip glazes). As far as I know, you can only find these floating around on places like eBay now.